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MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSE

Climate Action program kicks off Tuesday for interested Kamloops residents

Jan 30, 2023 | 4:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — A trio of organizations have come together to facilitate a 12-week-long Massive Open Online Course to help residents of Kamloops learn about climate action.

The Kamloops Naturalist Club, Kamloops Food Policy Council, and Transition Kamloops have partnered with Athabasca University, as well as the Canadian Community Economic Development Network and Synergia Transition and Resilience Climate Action Program (STARCAP) to help deliver the program.

Gisela Ruckert, with Transition Kamloops, hopes the program can act as a conversation starter on the topic of climate action and resilience, for those who enrol.

“This gives us an opportunity to look at working collectively within our community but also incorporating concepts that look at system change,” Ruckert explains. “So not just reacting all the time to wildfire smoke or the damage that we had during the floods when our highways were closed – obviously those require urgent responses – but there are other ways to approach the problem that takes more of a systems change perspective.”

The course will examine ways of looking at the current systems that are in place, and how changing those systems could benefit the climate. Participants will be expected to do about two hours of online coursework per week.

Organizers are planning local in-person meetings to build upon that coursework. Once the 12-week program finishes, the plan is to continue meeting to discuss which strategies might be applicable on a local level.

“There’s going to be so many ideas coming out, because that’s exactly what we’re looking at – solutions in other communities,” Ruckert says. “Places around the world that have made changes or done specific actions that have put them in better positions, going forward. I think that they’re going to be really inspiring, and I can’t wait to see what we’re going to come up with that will work in Kamloops.”

The course begins Tuesday, January 31st, but registration will remain open for a few extra days for anyone who is interested in taking part. For more information, or to register, you can visit www.transitionkamloops.net.